MAPUSA
Within a week, active cases in Bardez have almost doubled from 362 on March 27 to 594 on April 3.
While coastal and urban areas have led the spike in Covid cases in the taluka, rural areas were also catching up.
The Candolim primary health centre registered 103 active cases on March 27 which went up to 151 cases on April 3. Similarly, Siolim PHC had registered 45 cases on March 27 which shot up to 83 cases on April 3.
Both Candolim and Siolim PHCs are along the coastal belt of North Goa.
Among the urban areas, Porvorim PHC topped the chart of active cases with 183 reported on April 3 as compared to 121 on March 27.
Similarly, the active cases in Urban Health Centre of Mapusa stood at 103 on April 3 while it was 56 on March 27.
The active cases were also rising in rural areas with Aldona PHC reporting 46 active cases on April 3 as compared to 21 on March 27 while Colvale PHC reported 28 cases on April 3 as opposed to 16 registered on March 27.
As opposed to common perception that mostly tourists are carriers of Coronavirus, Health Officer of Candolim PHC, Dr Roshan Nazareth informed that there were as many locals as the tourists who tested positive for Covid-19.
“Many times when one person in a family tests positive, the entire family members are found to be positive the next day when we do the contact tracing,” Dr Nazareth told The Goan.
He said such things happen because people refrain from doing the Covid test when they experience initial symptoms for the fear of being quarantined.
According to Health Officer of Aldona PHC, Dr Preetam Naik inappropriate behaviour among the public can be blamed for the rise in the active cases.
She recommended the “SMS” action “ sanitize, mask and social distancing “ to avoid getting infected with the virus.
“The only good thing is that we have a vaccination programme. The health centres and hospitals are open even on Sundays and Holidays for vaccination,” Dr Naik said and appealed to people to get vaccinated.
